Tadawul fell for third day as investors book profits

Saudi shares fell for a third consecutive session today, as investors continued to book profits from the recent four-week rally.

Shares in the UAE eked out minor gains following Sunday’s sell-off.

The Tadawul closed 1.1 per cent lower at 6,496.74, dragged lower by Jabal Omar Development and Samba, after news on Sunday the Saudi government had settled billions of riyals worth of debt with contractors.

“It was mainly profit-taking following the recent positive performance of the market, which was based on the government’s overdue payment obligation and positive headlines on oil production cuts,” said Hani Konquar, the team leader for Mena equity sales and trading at Mubasher Fin­ancial Services in Dubai.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index finished 0.1 per cent higher at 3,306.19, with smaller names dominating trading. “There was good liq­uidity in the smaller stocks, with individuals with big money driving the flows rather than institutional investors,” said Khaldoun Jaradat, a trading manager at Brokerage House Securities in Dubai.

Union Properties and Damac Properties were the main gainers, closing up 9.8 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively.

Shares in Shuaa Capital soared 10.8 per cent to a seven-year high of Dh1.75, on news that the investment bank had appointed Abu Dhabi Financial Group’s chief executive, Jassim Alseddiqi, as its new chairman.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index rose by 0.2 per cent to 4,229.65, after banking stocks rose following the previous session’s sell-off.

NBAD and FGB led gains among big-name stocks, ending up 2.6 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

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